Area Muslims relieved bin Laden is gone

Area Muslims hope the death of Osama bin Laden also means the death of misunderstandings about their Islamic faith.

"He basically hijacked Islam and became a disgrace to Muslims," said Marium Mohiuddin, spokeswoman for the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles. "It wasn't anything we agreed to. People forget that."

Members of the Islamic Center of the Conejo Valley in Newbury Park said Monday they're relieved bin Laden is gone because justice was done for members of many faiths.

"He did not represent Islam in any way," said Tarek Elneil, 55, a member of the Newbury Park mosque. "Killing civilians is not Islamic. Suicide bombers, this is not an Islamic action. When he attacked the towers, inside there were Muslims, Christians, Jews, everybody. He didn't discriminate."

Camarillo resident Laila Ibrahim said she also is relieved, but she is uncomfortable with the idea of celebrating a death.

"A death is a death," she said. "It's a relief, but not happiness. I'm glad it happened and I'm glad it's rested."

Mohiuddin said she understands the sense of jubilation and celebration. "He really did have everyone on pause for 10 years," she said.

A spokeswoman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Anaheim, Munira Syed, said she prays there will be no retaliation but knows there are some members of al-Qaida who might make a violent statement.

"We will definitely report any suspicious activity happening within our local communities," she said. "We hope there is no backlash because American Muslims have been victims of the 9/11 attacks. ... Our country was attacked and our patriotism came under attack."

Area Muslims said the death of bin Laden against the wave of change in the Arab world will create an interesting dynamic.

"The incident comes at a good time in the sense that democratic revolutions are sweeping across the Middle East," Syed said. "Arab people are showing standing and showing strength and saying no to dictatorships and no to economic repression. They are embracing the ideals guided by their faith."

As an Egyptian American who watched dramatic change in his native country, Elneil agreed this is a new era.

"2011 is a really, really exciting year," he said. "I never saw a year like this before."